


pyre

by orphan_account



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, Platonic Romance, Slice of Life, ren/rekka for best bros 2k14, texting w/o punctuation and most of the alphabet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-04 21:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1793746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's about the journey, not the destination. Or something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i swear im not trying to write more self indulgent au it just kind of. happens  
> a sincere thank you to everyone who puts up with me and my writing

Ren’s headphones are broken again.

The music blasting into his ears is beginning to sound vaguely like the equivalent of someone playing a hundred trumpets in a hurricane. Even before he chances a glance at the thin rubber wire poking out from under his coat, Ren knows the cheap plastic connector is probably cracked in two places, and he groans quietly because now he is morally obligated to suck it up and go to the mall instead of wasting six dollars on a new and equally shitty pair of headphones every month or so.

The bus inches painfully forward. Impatient passengers glance at their watches and tap furiously at the screens of their phones, perhaps hoping to aid the passage of time. To amuse himself, Ren flicks the volume down on his iPod and starts counting how many seconds occur between the various noises of discontent floating across the bus. (Interestingly enough, according to his calculations, the businessman scowling down at his phone and the lady knitting the oversized tube sock have nearly the same reaction time for long and defeated sighs.)

Five minutes later, someone sneezes like a rocket. Ren jumps and stops counting.

They break free of the accident-borne traffic jam around the same time Ren's headphones decide that the full OST of Pokémon Emerald is not worth their time. He pouts slightly and tugs the magenta buds out of his ears, dropping them into the folds of his scarf. A motorcycle weaves past them, taking advantage of its small size to advance its position, and a police cruiser peels off from the emergency lane in pursuit. The bus route trails that of the chase; Ren switches seats twice to gawk at the sleek black vehicle and its electric-blue prey with his face pressed up against the glass. His stop is steadily approaching when the cyclist gets stopped at a light, and he can't help the small flicker of disappointment he feels at watching the ticket get written out.

One street later, the bus doors swing open, depositing him and a handful of others on one of the busiest avenues in Hitsue City. Ren yanks a piece of paper out of his pocket and blinks a few times at it. The horrendous drawing depicts two blobs that could potentially be buildings, as well as a crooked star and a squiggle that looks like a pathway if he squints and covers his right eye. The only recognisable item on the crude map is the handwriting, and even that is barely legible; Ren makes out the words Paladin Cafe scribbled atop one of the building blobs before he gives up. Glancing around, he heads quickly for the nearest table and pins the paper down with a pebble, snapping a photo with his phone.

* * *

**[Ren]**  
hey  
kai

do u kno where cafe paladin is  
i need 2 b there in 10 mins

 **[Kai]**  
Ren what I'm in physics lecture

_Image loading....  
Image received._

What the hell is this?

 **[Ren]**  
kourin drew me a map

i took the right bus down i just dont kno EXACTLY where it is  
help :(

 **[Kai]**  
You actually accepted that map. I can't help you.  
Texted Rekka though

 **[Ren]**  
whos rekka

 **[Kai]**  
Better at directions than you are

 **[Ren]**  
oUCH  
ur rude  
im not talkin 2 u  
>:/

 

  **[Ren]  
**......srsly whos rekka


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so tired that when i went back to edit the chapter preview i forgot what i was going 2 edit
> 
> rekka soon

**[Kai]**  
So how'd it go?

 **[Ren]**  
howd what go :o

 **[Kai]**  
Your interview, idiot

 **[Ren]**  
oH  
howd u kno abt that  
ru psychic or s/t

 **[Kai]**  
...  
You told me.

 **[Ren]**  
o  
it went ok i think

btw ur friend rekka  
shes rly rad  
we pokebattled on the bus back up b4 her stop  
i won  
barely

 **[Kai]**  
Congratulations.

 **[Ren]**  
thx  <3

 _Image loading…_   
_Image received._

kai is this that fuckin  
congration cake

i TRUSTED u

 **[Kai]  
** :)

 **[Ren]**  
anyway,  
how exactly  
do u get back 2 uni from the stop  
._.''

* * *

 

Kai’s waiting for him when he steps off the bus for the second time that day, hands jammed into his pockets and a decidedly dark scowl etched onto his face.

“Yo!” Ren ducks to evade someone’s elbow and dodges two of his former seatmates as he makes his way over, grinning widely. “How was physics?”

“Fun,” says Kai flatly. “There was a pop quiz.”

“That’s _fun?”_ Ren scoffs, shoving his bus pass back into his wallet and exchanging it for a pair of gloves. “You need to get out more.”

Predictably, Kai doesn’t answer him.

Ren casts a mournful look at his broken headphones before tugging them out of his scarf and dropping them unceremoniously into the nearest trash can.

Kai's mouth quirks upwards into a smirk. “What's that, your second pair this month?"

“You shut up,” responds Ren petulantly before the wind changes and his scarf flies up to hit him in the face. Kai snorts, and a snide comment is halfway to Ren’s lips when he catches a whiff of the delectable scent in the air.

“Bean buns!”

Kai’s located the street cart before he finishes the sentence, and Ren has to hurry to catch up; height does absolutely nothing when one of your friends can appear and disappear seemingly at will. The queue is blessedly short, and Kai exchanges a handful of crumpled bills for two of the steamed buns. Ren opens his mouth to object, but one of the warm confections is shoved into his face and he decides that eating takes priority. He’ll scold Kai for paying after he’s done.

Ren hums a battle theme from the OST he can no longer listen to as they head towards the main gates of Hitsue University, taking huge bites of his snack and contemplating going to the mall for an acceptable pair of headphones. He still hasn’t bought his chemistry textbook, but it’s a month into the new semester and he’s doing just fine without it; music is a more amenable cause than enthalpy, at any rate.

Maybe Rekka will be free this weekend. Ren brightens at the thought of traversing the mall with his new friend; Kai eyes him suspiciously but opts to check his phone instead of questioning his sudden cheerfulness.

Apparently, that was a mistake. Kai chokes and curses simultaneously.

“What’s up?” Ren turns around so he’s walking backwards, warily eyeing Kai’s phone.

“Study group at the library in ten minutes,” Kai shoots back. His fingers fly at the speed of light across the glossy screen of his iPhone, presumably sending a response. Ren has no idea how it’s stayed whole for so long; his Galaxy’s been dropped so many times that there are permanent dents in the backing.

 _“Bye.”_ Ren distances himself almost immediately, deftly avoiding the cracks in the sidewalk despite the fact that he is still not walking in the right direction.

“It’s for the only class we share, dumbass.”

Ren pouts but stops walking until Kai’s caught up to him; his charcoal suede boots match Kai’s nondescript black ones step for step with minimal effort. Crumpling the wrapper of his steamed bun, he aims for the nearby trashcan and misses. Spectacularly. He hopes Kai doesn’t notice.

“Really.”

No such luck. Ren sighs and trudges reluctantly over to the dropped wrapper, placing it properly into its corresponding waste receptacle.

A crumpled ball zips past his head, and Ren turns around so fast his ponytail whips him in the face. Kai’s smirking at him and lowering an arm from across the sidewalk.

 _“That’s_ how you land a shot.”

“I bet you practiced that at home,” counters Ren, pushing bright bangs out of his line of vision. He can't resist an enormously self-satisfied smirk when he sees Kai miss a step on the cracked concrete.

“Nailed it.”

“You did _not.”_

Ren drops the subject but retains the positively diabolical grin; although Kai refuses to further entertain the subject, the flush on his cheeks speaks volumes and fills the silence between them just fine.

* * *

 

 **[Ren]**  
study group huh

 **[Kai]**  
Shut UP, thank you

 **[Ren]**  
after like 1 hr  
ppl started goin 2 the stacks  
in pairs  
and nOT COMINg BaCK

 **[Kai]**  
I'm turning off my phone.

 **[Ren]**  
NO DONT

 **[Kai]**  
Give me one good reason.

 **[Ren]**  
1\. we ran outta nesquik boxes  
2\. and poptarts  
3\. and trix  
thats 3  
bonus: ur at the uni center store

 

 **[Ren]**  
...kai?

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a mobile update and my first day of work starts in six hours, why do i do this to myself
> 
> i wish i could say i was sorry but l o l

**[Rekka★]**  
morning Ren!! what's up!!

 **[Ren]**  
ghfjK  
reka holysh  
its like 7

 **[Rekka★]**  
it's Saturday!!  
we’re still going to the mall right??

 **[Ren]**  
but  
its  
7 am

 **[Rekka★]**  
the mall opens at 9 !! we have to beat traffic, duh!  
anyway Kourin is letting me drive so i gotta go!!

 **[Ren]**  
rek k a  
mn o  
wjy th

* * *

 

The first thing Ren notices upon waking up is that Kai has very nice eyes.

They're an attractive shade of teal dotted with tiny flecks of silver. They’re also narrowed slightly, because Kai is staring down at him with an annoyed expression and it has everything to do with the sound of his alarm clock echoing across their shared apartment.

"Ren. Turn your shit off."

Ren makes a sleepy noise that loosely translates to "fuck off", burying himself deeper in the blankets where it's warm and there are no annoying roommates with nice eyes telling him to wake up.

"Hey."

"Mfgh."

"I’m not getting your alarm for you."

Kai is an early bird and Ren is a night owl and this conversation is most definitely illustrating that problem. Rolling over, Ren unravels himself from the cocoon of covers just enough to reveal his spectacular case of bedhead and finds Kai’s face barely two inches from his.

"There is one Poptart left," says his flatmate evenly. "I am going to eat it."

"The hell you are." Ren sits up very suddenly, forgetting how close Kai is to him and nearly concussing them both. "I called dibs."

"First come, first serve." Kai stands up and stretches, catlike, before making tracks for the kitchen.

“But I called _dibs,"_ Ren repeats, enunciating the last word very clearly so as to illustrate its importance. Anyone who disrespects the ancient practice of dibs has allied themselves with the enemy.

"And _I_ had to go to the seriously shifty university store last night because someone finished all the food in our house," responds Kai blandly. "See how life works?"

"Kai!" Ren kicks his way out of the rest of the covers and tosses the blanket atop the bed, crossing the room in a few strides and elbowing an amused Kai out of his way in a dash for the last toaster pastry. Snatching the prized silver package from the tea bin, he tears it open and sticks both Poptarts into the toaster before sticking his head into the fridge.

"I can’t find the milk."

"Try looking," offers Kai, reaching past Ren's hair for the last two oranges.

Ren gives him a very flat stare. "I'm going back to bed."

"Whoever Rekka is, they called you three times," Kai informs him, moving the apple juice over to reveal the carton of whole milk behind it. "You should do something about that before you pass out again."

"...I guess." Ren picks up a cup and a spoon from the dish rack and sits down at the table with the milk. Kai flicks the switch up on the toaster and extricates the pastries with a pair of chopsticks before joining him, proffering the pastry with more icing on it.

"This one's yours."

Gingerly, Ren accepts the offering with a napkin; as he does so, his phone goes off again from the bedroom.

"LET'S GO TO THE BRIGHTER DAY! TAAAAKE MY HAAAAAAND, I'M GONNA TAAAAAAAAKE YOOOOUR HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND--"

_"Ren."_

Sighing, Ren puts down his breakfast and trudges out of the kitchen in pursuit of the obnoxious piece of technology. Digging it out of the mass of abandoned blankets, he swipes at the screen and presses the device to his ear.

"What."

"Whoa, relax! I didn't even say anything yet!" The person on the other end sounds rather affronted, and the part of Ren's mind that is actually awake cringes slightly and attempts an apology. What actually comes out is "Who are you?"

"The name's Kourin," responds the person using Rekka's phone. "I'm damage control."

"Damage control," repeats Ren absently. "What for, again?"

"Did I not just say Rekka's driving?" Kourin huffs exasperatedly. "Keep up, geez. Anyways, she says—"

Ren doesn't actually get to find out what Rekka said, because the end of Kourin's sentence is cut off by the sharp sounds of tires screeching. He cringes and angles the phone away from his ear.

"What the _fuck_ kind of turn was that?!"

"That, dear sister, was a perfectly executed left drift."

"Jesus Christ, Rekka, this isn't Mario Kart!"

"Well, _duh,_ go-karts don't come with turn signals!"

"Those signals are basically pointless if you don't _use_ them!"

Ren starts contemplating the merits of leaving the phone on the bed and letting the duo duke it out while he returns to his abandoned breakfast; unfortunately, Kourin returns to the phone before he can make his final decision.

"Uhh, we got stuck in traffic on the main road, so we'll be there around nine or so. Sorry for the argument in your ear."

 _"I'm_ not sorry! Drifting is a perfectly recognized and probably legal method of turning at an empty crosswal–"

"Rekka, _focus on the god damn road!"_ yells Kourin, and Ren winces as the call is dropped. Literally. There is a thump and a too-long silence, and he fervently prays that Rekka will soon find a seat she likes better than that of the driver's.

"So?" Kai raises an eyebrow and takes a huge gulp of orange juice as Ren walks back into the kitchen.

"They said they're coming here at nine," mumbles Ren through a huge yawn, tossing his phone haphazardly atop the table and probably adding to the enormous number of dents in the casing. He sits down and pours himself a cup of milk.

"Do we have chocolate syrup?"

"Fridge."

"No it's not."

"Where the milk was."

"...Oh."

Ren makes his chocolate milk and eats the icing off his Poptart and tries not to fall asleep at the table. Kourin said something about the time...

"Kai, what time is it?"

"Eight forty-five."

"Shit!" Ren shoots up from his chair. "How am I supposed to get ready in fifteen minutes?"

"That's not my problem." Kai finishes his pastry and gets up to put his glass in the sink. "I woke you up at seven."

Ren props his chin on the table and flashes Kai a disconsolate look.

"I don't like you."

"I don't care."

* * *

 

Ten minutes later, Ren has showered and dressed somewhat presentably. All his shirts have gone missing, so he's borrowing one of Kai's for the day; it's black and has the Kagero crest painted neatly on the front. Ren scowls down at the stencil. Kai made him a shirt too, a Shadow Paladin one, and he feels a little like he's betraying the clan he uses in competition by wearing this one. He swears he'll wash clothes tomorrow.

A series of honks and a screech from downstairs serve as the precursor to Rekka's arrival. Several birds fly past the window in a panic.

"Your friends are here," says Kai rather unnecessarily.

Ren sticks out his tongue and grabs Kai's scarf from the rack as retaliation, wrapping it snugly around his own neck before he leaves. He bypasses the elevator in the outside hallway in favor of the stairs, hoping to reach Rekka's mode of transport before someone calls the police about a noise complaint.

There is a convertible parked in front of the complex, bright and shiny and electric blue like the motorcycle from yesterday. Ren brightens and dashes over. It's a cool car, and he doesn't hesitate to say as much as he opens the door and claims the middle seat.

"You may want to pick a seat with an actual seatbelt," suggests Kourin a second before Rekka peels off from the curb and accelerates to nearly sixty an hour in two seconds.

Ren relocates his seat (and the majority of his breakfast) at the next stoplight. Rekka is genuinely apologetic, while Kourin just casts them both a very tired look.

Gradually, they pick up more people. Suiko is first to join them, introducing herself as the oldest of the siblings while simultaneously booting Rekka out of the driver's seat; this is a relief to Ren, because he doesn't think his stomach can handle another hour of hairpin turns and screeching stops. Next up is the blonde from his history class—one of two others who stayed for the disastrous study group, Ren remembers—dressed in full business wear, of all things.

"Dude," says Kourin, turning around to stare at him. "We're going to the _mall."_

"So I was told," responds the spider-haired stranger with an air of disgust, flicking imaginary lint off his slacks.

"Why is he here?" Ren inquires of Rekka in an undertone.

"Just roll with it." The youngest Tatsunagi shrugs and pulls her phone out, playing with the charms attached to it.

The last person they stop to retrieve turns out to be two people—twins—and Ren wonders if their current vehicle isn't some type of moving violation. He finds himself squished between Rekka and spider kid, who has to forcibly remove Ren's ponytail from his lap after every left turn.

Rekka follows his line of sight and nudges his shoulder with hers.

"Hey. We're totally taking him shopping."

"We are?"

"We are," confirms his friend solemnly, and Ren's grin turns positively diabolical.

* * *

 

 **[Kai]**  
 _Slideshow loading..._  
 _Slideshow received._

**[IMG_246557_001]** rekkas car is best car!!! #selfie #nofilter

 **[IMG_342218_005]** this guys a piece of shit

 **[IMG_200873_007]** this guys still a piece of shit but at least hes not dressed like one anymore

 **[IMG_187670_003]** haha we hav ice cream  & u dont

 **[IMG_120641_002]** HEADPHONES!!!!!!!!!! (≧▽≦)

 **[IMG_155709_016]** abt 2 push leon into the fountain :)

 **[IMG_240061_013]** suiko said we cant push leon into the fountain :(

 **[IMG_008746_107]** WHY CANT I HOLD ALL THESE BAGS

 **[Kai]**  
Ren why

 **[Ren]**  
we went shopping  
i bought things for u  
OvO

 **[Kai]**  
I'll get the trash bin ready.

 **[Ren]**  
WOW rude!!!  >(

btw picked up ur starbucks, cafe lat w/extra caramel <3


End file.
